Abū Ḥāzim, on the authority of Jarīr ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Bajalī, who said:

“I was in Yemen when I met two men of that land, Dhū Kalāʿ and Dhū ʿAmr. I began telling them about the Messenger of Allah, ﷺ. They replied, ‘If what you are saying is true, then your Companion reached the end of his appointed term three days ago.’

“So I set off and they set off with me. While we were still on the road a caravan coming from the direction of Madinah appeared. We questioned them and they said, ‘The Messenger of Allah, ﷺ, has been taken, Abū Bakr has been chosen as successor, and the people are united.’

“The two men then said to me, ‘Tell your Companion that we have come—and, if Allah wills, we may return.’ They turned back to Yemen, and when I reached Madinah I related their words to Abū Bakr. He said, ‘Why did you not bring them to me?’

“Some time later Dhū ʿAmr said to me, ‘Jarīr, you have a place of honor with me, so let me inform you of something: You Arabs will remain in good shape so long as, whenever a leader dies, you consult together and agree upon another. But if authority is seized by the sword, you will become kings—angry with the anger of kings and pleased with the pleasure of kings.’ ”

Imām Aḥmad and al-Bukhārī both transmitted this report from Abū Bakr ibn Abī Shaybah, and al-Bayhaqī likewise narrated it from al-Ḥākim, from ʿAbd Allāh ibn Jaʿfar, from Yaʿqūb ibn Sufyān.

Al-Bayhaqī also said: al-Ḥākim informed us; ʿAlī ibn al-Muʾammal informed us; Muḥammad ibn Yūnus related to us; Yaʿqūb ibn Isḥāq al-Ḥaḍramī related to us; Zāʾidah, from Ziyād ibn ʿIlāqah, from Jarīr, who said:

“A learned scholar met me in Yemen and said, ‘If your Companion truly is a prophet, he died on Monday.’ ” Al-Bayhaqī narrated it in this form.

Imām Aḥmad likewise said: Abū Saʿīd related to us; Zāʾidah related to us; Ziyād ibn ʿIlāqah, from Jarīr, who said:

“A learned scholar in Yemen said to me, ‘If your Companion is a prophet, he died today.’ ” Jarīr added, “And indeed he died on Monday.”

Al-Bayhaqī further said: Abū ʾl-Ḥusayn ibn Bishrān al-Muʿaddal of Baghdad informed us; Abū Jaʿfar Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr informed us; Muḥammad ibn al-Haytham related to us; Saʿīd ibn Kathīr ibn ʿUfayr related to us; ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd ibn Kaʿb ibn ʿAlqamah ibn Kaʿb ibn